


Soul Riders

by ChibisUnleashed



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dragon Riders, Jack takes Yolo to heart, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Soulbonds, some violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:55:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29114880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChibisUnleashed/pseuds/ChibisUnleashed
Summary: For RotG Secret Santa 2020 #61: Jack/Pitch OTP - Dragon Riders AU. Bonus for soul bonds/mind bonds/creature bonds.Jack is the favorite in these dragon races. Being in North's good graces has always afforded him room to be as unconventional as he would like about it.Still, going back to save a rival from certain doom and assuring your own loss in the race seems a tad bit more than 'unconventional.' Jack does it anyway.
Relationships: Jack Frost/Pitch Black
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	Soul Riders

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nimohtar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nimohtar/gifts).



> SORRY IT'S LATE NIM!! But I really hope you like it anyway! <3

Jack indulged in the heavy, racing beat in his chest as his dragon just barely cleared the top of the stands to swoop low over the crowd. He unhooked one foot from its stirrup and hung dangerously off the other side, his beloved Flurry obligingly lifting his legs out of the way so that Jack could high five an entire row of kids on their way to the starting line. 

The crowd cheered for him as he swung back up into his seat. Flurry landed gracefully several yards away from where they eventually needed to be when the race started. There were too many bodies, human and dragon alike, for a bulky ice dragon like him to set down in place from the get-go, and besides, the showmanship of parting the sea of competitors to take their place in the prime spot was too good to give up. North liked it when he played up his status and Jack liked it when he turned heads, so it was a win/win.

Flurry snapped his tail, instinctively feeling the proximity of an unwelcome guest, and Jack, tied into Flurry’s instincts, slid out of the saddle immediately so they could turn together to face the pair who dared invade their space and their spotlight. 

Of course it was Pitch.

Pitch Black was a racer who just refused to die. He literally held the record for the most costly and deadly crashes in the sport and somehow was still here to sneer about it. He was plenty fast, but that seemed to be more part of the problem. The faster he went, the more damage he did on his way down.

And yet, he always got back up.

“Jealous you can’t turn a crowd on your own?” Jack taunted. As long as Jack had been racing, Pitch had been racing longer. He could count on one hand the number of times Jack had shown up for a race to find Pitch wasn’t competing, it was that rare. Naturally a rivalry had developed. What else were they going to do, when they were constantly trying to knock each other out of the sky? “Came to stand by me so you can pretend some of the cheers are yours?”

Pitch scoffed as he came closer. He was tugging his gloves on, one and then the other, looking more at ease than anyone deserved to be when statistics said they were going to crash and burn in less than an hour’s time. “I don’t need the fleeting love of strangers to motivate me, Frost. I pity the fool that does.”

It was a cheap shot, but a shot that hit its mark nonetheless. 

“Who says I need it?” Only after he said it did Jack realize he was dignifying it. He should have just ignored him, but if Jack were any good at that, he wouldn’t be the show pony he was, the show pony the crowds adored to watch. In for a penny, “Adoring fans are just a lot of fun. You should try it, sometime.” Jack paused. “Oh, wait.”

Pitch glared, and that was how Jack knew it was working. 

“It must be so nice,” Pitch finally said, acid dripping from every word, “to be North’s charge. To have everything handed to you so you stay the crowd favorite.” That wasn’t how it worked, but when Jack opened his mouth to object, Pitch rolled right over him. “You have talent, Jack, I’ll give you that, but not enough to be here without help. Maybe it’s funny to you that I’m here on my own, but I consider it a point of pride.” 

By now, Pitch had stalked all the way up to Jack and was leaning over him, using his height to tower and make Jack look up at him. They were rivals, sure, and they taunted each other all the time, but this was different. Pitch was really trying to make him hurt, and Jack had no idea why, but it was working. 

“I don’t have  _ friends  _ making this easy for me. I have to  _ work  _ to be here. So have your adoring fans, Jack, and I’ll have the knowledge that between the two of us, I  _ earned  _ my place here.”

"What makes you think I've never earned anything?" Jack stepped forward, forcing Pitch to back up a step. “I didn’t  _ always  _ have friends, Pitch. I just decided I was tired of being alone. But if you want to be  _ proud  _ of having no friends, go right along!”

Even their dragons had stepped toe-to-toe and were facing each other down. There was no better indicator that they were both invested, which made for an even better spectacle for the audience. This wasn’t the sort of spectacle Jack usually liked to provide.

Pitch’s jaw was clenched. He was growling right through his teeth. “I  _ have  _ friends.”

“Really?” Jack asked, mockingly looking around to either side of him. “Where are they?”

Pitch’s lip curled, but rather than respond, he did what Jack really should have done at the beginning of all of this and walked away. Onyx turned away from Flurry in perfect tandem, and Jack was left stung, frustrated, and horribly confused. Just what had Pitch been trying to accomplish?

He had to be jealous, there was no doubt of that. Everybody wanted fans, even just a handful, and Pitch got a lot more jeers than cheers. 

But that was  _ every day.  _ Pitch didn’t get in his face every day. Especially not about friends and working hard and earning his place. It was usually about crashes and popularity and being a shitty flyer. 

Which… neither of them was. Jack wasn’t foolish enough to think otherwise. Pitch had said it, too. Nobody wanted to watch someone who couldn’t race and without at least the minimum skills necessary for staying on your dragon, you were done for. 

Jack went through the motions of waving to his fans and walking to the starting line, but even as he climbed up onto Flurry’s back, he was still thinking about it. Pitch was angry, and that was nothing new. It shouldn’t bother him this much, but it did.

Because Jack  _ knew  _ loneliness. He wasn’t proud of taking shots at Pitch’s lack of support group. He got angry, and he said things. But if Jack’s life had gone slightly different, if the pieces hadn’t fallen where they did, Jack could have been just like Pitch. 

The announcement came over the speakers for the riders to get ready. Jack pushed his argument with Pitch from his mind and got on with his showmanship. He bowed to the crowd, then turned and bowed to North. 

Nicholas St. North was the benefactor of these races. As such, he enjoyed all of the glory that came from them, and his word was basically law. It was a good thing he was a generally nice guy, because his socio-economic status made him untouchable. 

Jack was his favorite racer, his charge, and his beneficiary. It made Jack untouchable, too. 

So long as Jack didn’t piss him off, which was why he saved a final, private bow for him. Jack was thankful every day, and North needed to know. He smiled down at Jack from his private box above the stadium and gave a little wave, interrupted by Bunnymund coming over to poke North in that exact arm. North didn’t startle, he’d probably known Bunnymund was coming, but he did turn away from Jack to gesture grandly at his business partner and close friend. 

Their lips didn’t move. Never did, when they were only talking to each other. Jack didn’t think he would ever understand how two people so different could be enough on the same wavelength to have formed a Bond that never faltered. 

The science behind it was a bit like tears: we all knew how but nobody quite knew why. If you related to someone enough, if your thoughts and feelings and desires managed to coincide just right with someone else, you could start to hear their forethoughts. It didn’t always last. You could relate to someone one day, then barely understand them the next. Or, like North and Bunnymund, something deep inside you could be so in tune with someone else that your mood swings didn’t matter, and the Bond always held. 

With North’s attention on someone else and the flag that marked the start already raised high, Jack decided it was time to get in the game. 

The lights on every side and the starting flag waving rhythmically in the wind held Jack’s attention just long enough to get him out of the gate with the same speed and swiftness he always had. The initial rush and wrestle to avoid colliding with anyone and still pull out ahead took all of his thinking power to survive and succeed. And then the drive to win kept him grounded and focused on maneuvering with Flurry out of the way of obstacles and moving efficiently through the air. 

Until he pulled far enough ahead that staying the course came easy, and suddenly he only needed half his brain to keep afloat. 

_ Why was Pitch so mad?  _

Jack hated the fact that he was thinking about it even as he thought about it some more. It was frustrating to know that his head was going to circle around this  _ thing  _ for the entirety of the race and probably for several hours after and maybe even when he was supposed to be sleeping that night and  _ what did it even matter?  _

Was Pitch just so horribly lonely that he had to pretend he liked it that way or else he’d go insane? Was he so bad at making friends that he pretended he didn’t want any so he could feel better about it? Because if he  _ actually  _ liked not having friends, it wouldn’t be something to goad Jack about, because it wouldn’t be something he saw as a problem, because he’d actually be happy about it. 

And Jack kind of got that. It’s not like he’d never said, “Fine! I don’t need your help, anyway!” when he totally didn’t mean it. But Pitch was a fucking adult. Shouldn’t he be over himself by now?

Jack just about drove Flurry into the nearest tree so he could have something exciting to occupy his mind and get it out of this loop. 

When Flurry actually dipped toward the tree, Jack realized he was throwing a tantrum instead of being a professional and took a breath. 

Not a minute later, he heard a commotion behind him as, no doubt, two racers either got cocky or got careless and started to collide. First, there was only the screeching of irate dragons and heavy flapping of wings, but then Jack heard their riders yelling as well, screaming obscenities and insults at each other, panicked instructions to their dragons. Their voices were faint and far away, except…

_ Come on, Onyx, get us out of this. I know you can!  _

Jack was also hearing it in his heart. 

Which. 

Fuck. 

One of the voices  _ out loud  _ became an actual scream and Jack hesitated. In any other race, he wouldn’t stop. Other riders were responsible for themselves and Jack’s only job was to win for North. But right now…

_ No no no, Onyx!  _

Jack would have a real hard time sleeping tonight if these were the last words he ever heard from Pitch, and they were  _ in his own mind.  _

Jack didn’t have to make a conscious decision; Flurry was already banking into a tight turn and picking up speed. Jack took two seconds to feel some pride at how far behind them the next nearest riders were, and then all of his focus was on what he was doing right now. 

Onyx was struggling to stay in the air, her wings flapping in a panic against the weight dragging her down. Pitch had collided with Ashera, who looked to be unconscious in her saddle. It was Ashera’s dragon, Cyclone, who was causing the problem. His feet were tangled up under Onyx, and Jack couldn’t tell why that was from this distance, but he was definitely trying to drag her right out of the air. 

Jack didn’t know when his uncertainty had morphed into determination, but Flurry was just as dedicated to their new goal as Jack was. He dove straight for the struggling dragons, claws out and battle cry on his tongue. 

_ What the fuck?  _

Jack agreed, because there probably was a smarter way to go about this, but Jack was never very good at planning. Flurry’s claws gripped Cyclone’s wings and pulled, taking some of the weight from Onyx and also royally pissing off Cyclone in the process. 

“What are you  _ doing?”  _ Pitch screamed at him.

“I don’t know!” Jack screamed back.

_ What an idiot.  _

“I heard that!” 

Pitch’s expression was pinched. He was clearly angry, but also clearly holding something back. “I  _ know.”  _

Well, shit. Guess that meant it wasn’t just a one-way feed. Jack should have figured that, but he also hadn’t really gotten that far. He’d sort of stopped at, ‘Pitch in trouble. Infinite guilt-trip. Go!’ Thinking of, Jack could now see that Cyclone’s claws were gripping at Onyx’s leg and the harness keeping Pitch attached. One could have been stuck, but the other was definitely intentional. 

Anything goes in dragon racing. If Cyclone successfully dragged Onyx into the ground, it would be completely legal. However, that also meant Jack could do whatever he wanted to prevent that from happening. 

Flurry was already ducking close to Onyx. He knew what Jack was planning to do before he’d decided to do it. They were both crazy. It made them a great team. 

Jack unbuckled his harness and flipped his leg over in preparation to jump. Pitch’s eyes widened. He must be able to hear what Jack was planning. He wondered what his thoughts sounded like, from the other side. And now that he was this far in, Jack realized this meant he’d been right about Pitch this whole time. That thought was kind of sad, kind of reassuring, and Jack would think harder on that later. 

Right now, he had to throw himself through the air from one dragon to another and try very hard not to die. 

To his credit, Pitch was keeping Onyx very steady. Her wings pounded the air with a hard but stable rhythm, just below Flurry’s heavy beat. Pitch looked more nervous than Jack felt, which didn’t actually say much at all, given what a daredevil Jack was, but it was kind of nice to know the guy he was resonating with right now actually gave a shit about him not plunging to his death. 

Still, it wasn’t until Jack’s feet left Flurry’s saddle that Pitch’s mind screamed out to him.

_ Jack, don’t!  _

But of course it was way too late and horribly distracting. Jack still managed to land where he meant, just over Onyx’s wing, and clutched desperately at the back of Pitch’s saddle and also, completely unintentionally but here they were, at Pitch’s thigh. 

Pitch’s hand gripped tight at Jack’s wrist. “You’re insane!”

Jack nodded. Yeah, he could admit that, and he needed a moment to breathe and celebrate that he wasn’t falling helplessly through the air right now. But then he said, “And you’re in trouble.” 

Pitch’s grip somehow tightened. “That never mattered before.”

“It’s different, now.” Jack looked Pitch right in the eyes. “You can’t pretend it’s not. Also, I’m borrowing this.” Pitch just happened to have a knife strapped to his belt and Jack would much rather risk losing his to this endeavor than his own. It was only fair. 

“What—? Hey!” But Jack already had the knife between his teeth and his feet braced against Onyx’s side. He was halfway down, the straps of her harness thick and tight, but easy enough to climb. The only thing stopping him was Pitch’s hand still around his wrist. 

Jack tugged at his grip, and when it didn’t loosen, looked up to see what was keeping him. 

Pitch looked  _ terrified.  _

Jack didn’t know how to feel about that. He wasn’t even sure what part of this scared him so much. And he would love to sit here and ponder it, except Flurry was urging him to get this over with already, and Jack would really like to get back into his own saddle, too. 

Cyclone screeched below, and a hard tug made the whole lot of them slip downward in the air. Pitch’s fingers were so tight on Jack’s wrist it hurt, but what Jack really needed was the exact opposite. He would say so, except a knife was in his mouth.

Jack swallowed around the handle and looked up at Pitch again. It was the strangest feeling, knowing for absolute certain that someone else knew exactly how he felt. And considering, for real, that his thoughts were not,  _ completely,  _ private. 

Jack met Pitch’s eyes and went for it. He thought, ‘I need you to let me go.’

Pitch stiffened immediately but didn’t let go. “Don’t you dare die on me, Frost.”

Jack wasn’t sure what his grin looked like around a knife handle, but he hoped it was appropriately manic. ‘You got it, Sugarlips. Now let me do my thing.’

Pitch released him like he’d been burned.  _ Sugarlips?!  _

He probably shouldn’t be laughing that hard with a knife between his lips and his life on the line, but Jack couldn’t help it. He slid down the straps until he met where Cyclone’s claw was stuck. He still couldn’t tell if the grip was intentional, but he was about to find out anyway, so…

Jack made sure his arm was securely wrapped up in Onyx’s harness, then stabbed Cyclone’s claw with Pitch’s knife.

Cyclone’s scream was so sudden and so loud it made Jack flinch close to Onyx’s chest. The next thing he knew, they were being yanked forward and Onyx’s arm was tucked up around him, which was good because her harness was sliding this way and that as Cyclone thrashed. Most of his toes had let go, but one was still caught between Onyx’s chest and the leather. Jack shoved the knife back in his mouth and prayed Onyx would keep him steady when he leaned over to physically shove the nail out from where it was stuck. 

As soon as it was free, Cyclone flailed and kicked right at him. Jack honestly felt bad about it when he threw himself out of the way and let Onyx take the hit instead, but between them, Onyx was more likely to survive. She cried out and kicked back at him, and only then did Jack consider exactly how likely he was to die here. 

The next time Cyclone’s claw came close, Jack slashed at it with the knife again. There was another screech and a hard jolt, but Cyclone started keeping that claw tucked close at his side, so Jack considered it a win. 

Not one to dawdle, he moved on to freeing Onyx’s leg from Cyclone’s grip, except the dragons were way bigger than he was and his arm would never reach. 

_ I got it.  _

Jack felt his brows furrow. He had no idea what that meant, until Onyx pulled her leg in and suddenly reach was no longer an issue. Cyclone shook fiercely, but Onyx held them still enough for Jack to plunge the blade between Cyclone’s toes and then they were free. Jack  _ barely  _ got Pitch’s knife back out before Cyclone was letting go and tearing away toward the ground. 

Jack immediately climbed back up, Onyx’s arm suspiciously cradled around his body almost the entire way. When he was back up to stirrup height, Jack took the knife from his mouth, wiped the blood off on Pitch’s pants, and stuck the blade back where he’d stolen it from. 

“I could have done that.”

Jack rolled his eyes at Pitch’s bravado. It was a lot less impressive now that Jack knew what Pitch was really feeling. “Yeah yeah, you’re welcome. Let’s get back in this race, shall we?”

Pitch scoffed and turned away, gripping the reins to pull Onyx up to Flurry’s hovering height. He almost pulled off the uncaring look, except that his heart whispered  _ thank you  _ and Jack heard it loud and clear. 

Getting back in the race was harder done than said. Not only were they incredibly far behind now (although not as far as Jack would have expected), but his mind was just as preoccupied as it had been before the whole saving Pitch thing, if not worse. 

Now he knew that all of his wandering thoughts and questions had been right on the mark. Now he knew that he had completely nailed Pitch’s motivations, and not only that, but that they reflected Jack’s own. This was huge. This was game-changing. This was—

_ Would you stop thinking so loud?  _

Embarrassing as hell. 

Jack had no idea how he was supposed to deal with someone else being able to hear all of his thoughts for the rest of this race, but he had to make it work somehow. He decided he’d distract himself by pushing Flurry harder than he ever had, and Flurry was all for it. 

Onyx kept up admirably, but inevitably they left Pitch in the dust. Flurry was simply a faster dragon, and Jack was dead set on escaping into the wind. 

They did not win. They finished just ahead of the middle of the pack, but North wasn’t upset one bit. The man was smiling as wide as Jack had ever seen him and gave an enthusiastic thumbs up when Flurry finally touched ground again. 

The whole race was filmed, so of course North knew exactly why he was so late to the finish line. If North was pleased, it must mean the crowd had been pleased. Winning a race was less important than winning the hearts of the people. 

It was good to know he hadn’t pissed anyone off. That left him free to slide off of Flurry’s back and stomp right up to where Onyx was finally coming down. Pitch sure took his time dismounting. He looked completely unconcerned with the fact that Jack was right there, clearly waiting for him. A facade Jack might have believed if he didn’t know Pitch could hear every wayward curse flitting through Jack’s mind. 

Jack couldn’t be sure exactly what he was projecting, but he imagined it was something akin to, ‘Get down get down get down get down,’ and only stopped when Pitch threw his leg over the saddle and hopped to the ground to meet him. 

“Alright,” Jack said. “What the fuck?”

Pitch held himself upright and did a good job of looking down his nose at Jack. This man did so much  _ pretending.  _ “I could ask you the same thing.”

Jack shook his head in disbelief. “I’m not the one who’s been running around, hiding a bunch of shit about how I’m feeling. That was all you.”

Pitch’s eyes narrowed. “If I was hiding so well, then how did this happen?”

Jack threw up his hands. “Obviously I figured it out!”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Pitch rolled his eyes. 

The sound of laughter stopped both of them in their tracks. They turned to see Sandy, still perched atop his brilliantly gold dragon, laughing helplessly at them. 

Oh good, now they were being obvious. 

Jack heard a small commotion and leaned around Pitch to see North, Bunny, and Tooth headed their way. Instantly, his head felt hot with shame and embarrassment and he hid behind Pitch’s larger form to give himself a couple more seconds to think up what he was going to tell them. 

_ What is it?  _

Jack blinked and looked up. Pitch was looking right at him, then checked over his shoulder and raised his eyebrows in surprise. 

_ Oh.  _

Jack was not really ready to casually use this link like this, but the other option was literally everyone overhearing them now, so he got over it quickly. 

‘Don’t tell Bunny.’

Pitch met his gaze again.

_ Why would I?  _

...That was a good question. Pitch never had any interaction with Bunny unless obligated to by the racing league. 

‘What are we going to tell them?’

Pitch rolled his eyes and turned away. 

_ Whatever you want to. I’m leaving.  _

Jack grabbed his arm and idly noted that his wrist was starting to bruise. Pitch’s grip had been that tight. 

When he didn’t want Jack to fall to his death. 

‘You can’t run from me.’

Pitch spared him a glance over his shoulder. It wasn’t as cold as Jack was expecting, but it wasn’t exactly inviting either. 

_ I know. You’ll find me later, I’m sure.  _

Jack felt his face getting hotter, but he didn’t think he could blame shame this time. 

“Jack!” North arrived and Jack let Pitch go. He scoffed and made a big show of shrugging Jack off and stomping away, none of which was believable after Onyx snuffled his hair in parting. 

Jack turned all of his attention to North and Bunny, determined to sell whatever lie came to mind. “Hey, North!”

“Amazing show, Jack!” North put both of his massive hands on Jack’s shoulders and smiled broadly down at him. “What gave you the idea?” 

Tooth bumped her hip into North’s side. “He’s just that good of a man, obviously,” she teased.

Jack ducked his head because he really didn’t deserve that praise. He absolutely would have left Pitch to suffer if not for the link. 

As soon as he could get away, Jack was going to hunt Pitch’s ass down and make him work this out with him. It wasn’t fair to leave Jack hanging like this.

_ At  _ least  _ let me get something to eat, first!  _

Jack snorted a laugh and all three of his friends looked at him strangely. Jack tried to cover it up with a cough. 

‘Sure thing, Sweetcheeks. It’s a date!’

_...I can already tell I’m going to regret this.  _

There was no fooling his friends this time. 

Jack couldn’t do anything about his grin.


End file.
